The Day the Elixir Was Complete, My Master Went Mad - Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Half of Kunwu Mountain had collapsed.
By dawn, only a charred ruin remained of the Heavenly Inquiry Platform.
Shen Zhaowei led the surviving disciples to count the injured, her scolding echoing all the way from the mountain gate to the back peaks.
Her words were harsh and biting, but no one dared to talk back.
Wen Zhi sat on the steps, cradling an empty Bone Bell Rope in his arms.
He was crying quietly.
I walked over and handed him a piece of candied fruit.
He glanced at it.
“Senior Sister Jiang, is my mother really gone?”
I said, “Yes.”
He stuffed the candied fruit into his mouth, his tears falling even harder.
“Then why didn’t she say anything to me?”
I didn’t know how to answer.
Shen Zhaowei walked over and patted his head.
“If she had, you would have found it even harder to let go.”
Wen Zhi choked back a sob.
“Senior Sister Shen, you’re terrible at comforting people.”
Shen Zhaowei gave a cold snort.
“It’s a miracle I haven’t thrashed you yet.”
Now that sounded like something a living person would say.
Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion.
The next moment, my vision went black, and I fell backward.
Master caught me.
He had been standing exactly three paces away from me the entire time.
I had told him before that he wasn’t allowed to come near me without permission.
Now, he had broken that rule.
But I no longer had the strength to scold him.
When I woke up, I was in a bamboo hut by the Peach Stream.
The sound of flowing water drifted through the window, and the wind carried the scent of medicinal herbs.
It wasn’t the cold fragrance of Kunwu Mountain.
It was the bitter scent of the mortal world, dried under the sun.
Master was sitting by the table, sewing a robe.
The hand that held a sword was steady, but it was clumsy with a needle.
I watched him for a while.
“You’ve sewn the sleeve shut.”
His movements paused.
Then, he set the garment down as if nothing had happened.
“You’re awake.”
I propped myself up to sit.
My chest ached, and so did the space between my brows, but it was bearable.
“Where is this?”
“Peach Stream.”
He said, “Thirty miles below the mountain.”
I remembered him telling me to follow the Peach Stream, saying I could reach Qingzhou by dawn.
It turned out he had chosen a place to hide me long ago.
I looked at him.
“Apologize.”
Master rose, walked to the bed, and stopped three paces away.
Then, he knelt.
I froze.
He lowered his head.
“Ah Heng, I’m sorry.”
The words were spoken so quietly.
There was no air of an Immortal Venerable, no attempt to justify himself.
“I’m sorry for lying to you, hurting you, and locking you away.”
“I’m sorry that I was afraid of you dying, so I made decisions for you.”
“I’m sorry that I mistook my own fear for your path.”
My nose stung, but I kept my face cold.
“What else?”
He was silent for a moment.
“I’m sorry that even now, I still want to lock you away.”
I grabbed the pillow and threw it at him.
He didn’t dodge.
The pillow hit his shoulder, too light to be a punishment.
I laughed out of sheer frustration.
“Xuanwei, are you incapable of lying, or do you just not know how to be a human being?”
He thought about it seriously.
“Neither.”
I couldn’t even laugh anymore.
He looked up at me, a heavy exhaustion deep within his eyes.
“But I will learn.”
